


(step two) walk clean away

by Anonymous



Series: in fact [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bruce Banner Angst, Bruce Banner Feels, Bruce Banner Has Issues, Bruce Banner Needs a Hug, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Gen, Heavy Angst, How Do I Tag, Hurt Bruce Banner, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Torture, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, M/M, No one is surprised, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Non-Graphic Violence, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Tony Stark, Pepper is so done, Phil Coulson Has the Patience of a Saint, Post-Iron Man 1, Thaddeus Ross is a dick, The Author Regrets Everything, Tony Stark Angst, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, no beta we die like men, yall there’s so much angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 11:21:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29916123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Tony means to apologize to Bruce when he sees the other man on the couch one day. But instead ofI’m so sorry,what comes out of his mouth is, “When I was in Afghanistan, I let my best friend die.”And Bruce just stares.(Sequel to “(step one) light me on fire.” No prior knowledge needed.)
Relationships: Bruce Banner & Tony Stark, Bruce Banner/Tony Stark (one-sided), James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark (briefly)
Series: in fact [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1393462
Comments: 6
Kudos: 34
Collections: Anonymous





	(step two) walk clean away

**Author's Note:**

> I never thought I would be here again but hi welcome to the sequel! I’ve had this written for months, didn’t want to post it, but here I am lmao. Currently uploading on my phone so I apologize for any formatting errors. I’m really tired and I’ll fix them tomorrow.
> 
> CW: implied/referenced torture, mentions of captivity, ross, non-consensual drugging, lots of self-hate on Tony’s behalf, mild description of an anxiety attack

Life after his kidnapping was shit, to put it bluntly. Between the press-conferences, nearly being kicked out of his own board, SHIELD, and his ex-mentor trying to murder him, his life had turned into a shit show. Now, here he was in the back of a black SUV being driven to another weapon cache that SHIELD had apparently discovered by getting Pepper to steal information off Stane’s computer and Tony had no idea what was happening. He hated being out of the loop. All that Coulson had said to him was something about needing to neutralize a bomb.

Tony had been disarming bombs for the past eight hours or so after the “Iron Man” press conference and he was utterly exhausted. He had to hand it to Stane: he was efficient with his bomb placement. Bases with guns and lesser artillery had just the basics, any person with an engineering degree could disarm that charge. The heavy shit like missiles, tanks, cannons... some of Tony’s best works protected by his best explosives.

_(He honestly had never hated himself as much as he hated himself now. Bloody money had been the Stark legacy and even when he tried to stop it, it would always follow him no matter what he did.)_

The vehicle rolled to a stop and the agents surrounding Tony jumped out of the car. Tony neither took his time nor rushed to exit, squinting in the dark. Flashing lights everywhere. There was likely a perimeter set up not far from there to stop any civilians from entering.

“Stark’s on scene!” he heard and immediately a woman with russet hair was approaching him, herding him in the direction that he needed to go.

“Oh, thank god,” she muttered under her breath before addressing him directly, “Mr. Stark, if you could-”

“STARK!”

A scream of desperation diverted his attention and the engineer swung his head to the source. Suddenly, his mouth dried up and his knees felt weak. No, no, no. How?

When he had returned from the desert and returned to his penthouse, he had found the living room in disarray. Obviously, there had been an incident. Tony had devoted hours of his time to trying to find Bruce, even going so far as to hack into military servers. Banner’s files hadn’t been updated. He was listed as MIA. Tony had assumed that if Ross had come for him, he had managed to escape somehow.

The sight before him told a different story. He should have looked harder. If he had known that Stane had Banner the entire time…for the past ten months. He had spent three in a cave and seven getting his shit together and working on his company. And he had left Bruce to rot here, oblivious.

Bruce went down, crying and pleading as he was dragged away by the SHIELD agents. Tony was frozen, the world around him becoming static as he stared at where Banner had just been. He had never heard the other man beg like that. Bruce didn’t beg.

“Mr. Stark?” Fingers snapped in front of his face and he blinked, drawn out of his stupor. He’d dropped his mask and now everyone knew how shaken he was. Then again, anyone would be shaken by that sight, surely.

“Right,” he said, taking in a deep breath and schooling his features to something more typical. “Lead the way.”

* * *

Nicholas Fury, director of SHIELD, broke into his house with a proposition. Something about some initiative. Tony declined, extremely uninterested. He had better things to do than to work for the government. As a matter of fact, the last thing he wanted to do was work for the government. He expected Fury to leave after that, but instead the man asked,

“Don’t you want to be able to protect the people who can’t save themselves? Your friend we found at the weapon’s base today, for one example.”

Tony stilled. “Get out,” he demanded in a quiet tone, voice laced with ice and venom. As if he didn’t already feel bad about what had happened with Bruce, now SHIELD was already trying to use the other man against him.

“He won’t talk to us,” Fury continued, ignoring Tony’s cold request. “He won’t cooperate with SHIELD at all. He thinks we’re military. I’ve heard medical has had to sedate him a number of times, as he’s rather violent. Coulson told me about the little spectacle at the base and I can’t help but wonder where you stand in all of this between Mr. Stane and General Thaddeus Ross.”

“What are you trying to suggest?” Tony growled, prayed that spies couldn’t smell guilt or something. Fury gave him a look he couldn’t decipher.

“Consider my proposal, Stark. Something tells me that when the ground is overturned, the dirt won’t be pretty.”

Tony was fairly sure that wasn’t a real saying, but before he could say that Fury left with a dramatic flare of his coat. So, that had been a blatant threat. His mind went three directions.

He was going to be absolutely ruined if word came out about Bruce. It didn’t matter how kindly he had treated the other, the fact that he bought him in the first place was enough to completely topple his industry. Of course, if Bruce’s identity was revealed and it was revealed he was the Hulk, he would have supporters who accepted his actions. He didn’t want supporters. What he had done was horrible and unacceptable and he didn’t even really deserve to be alive right now. He needed to turn himself into SHIELD and take responsibility for what he had done.

SHIELD was not treating Banner well. Restraints, sedation, and orders of cooperation would only solidify to the man that he was in Ross’ custody. Tony needed to save him, or at least put him in a position where he could be helped by SHIELD. Then again, he had no doubt that if the organization found out who Banner really was, they would treat him just like Ross or Stane had, see him as nothing more than a tool and a weapon. He needed to help Bruce before anything was found out.  
He could join the initiative and avoid the inevitable backlash and years of prison when SHIELD eventually found out about Banner because he doubted the agency would arrest him if he was on the team.

Regardless, he was fucked.

Tony sighed and went to get a drink. He needed advice.

* * *

Pepper slapped him as hard as she could when she told him about the situation the next morning. He figured it was because she currently was so outraged that she lacked words. Meanwhile Rhodey hovered by her side awkwardly, pissed and strumming with rage.

“Tony, what the hell is wrong with you! You bought a person and kept them in a cage?”

“It wasn’t a cage, per se…” the brunet began, but trailed off at the simultaneous glares he received. “But in essence, yes.”

“Was this some sort of kinky sex thing?” Rhodey asked, looking as if he hoped it was when he knew it wasn’t.

“No, it was a war monger sorta thing. Y’know, pre-arc reactor me. I know you won’t believe me, but I really didn’t intend to use him as a weapon. When General Ross came back for him, I told him to fuck–”

“General Ross? As in Thaddeus Ross?” Pepper interjected, speaking for the first time since she had hit him.

“Tony! The army’s involved in this?!” Rhodey asked, half shock, half disbelief.

“Uh…yes. I bought him from them, but–“

“Tony,” Pepper snapped, blue eyes hard. “Start from the beginning.”

So he did. He told them how Ross has promised him an amazing weapon provided that he could “fix it up.” The Hulk. A green behemoth with a temper. They wanted him to find a way to control the monster and his ego and curiosity had gotten the better of him. When he had gotten there the weapon was a pitiful-looking man with a shock collar on curled in the corner of a holding cell who wouldn’t even dare to make eye contact with him. So, that was a problem. They’d told him about the Hulk, but they hadn’t told him that Hulk was a human under all that green. He’d admit, he first saw dollar signs when Ross handed the check to him. Then he saw what they had done to the poor bastard and felt disgusted. He kept up his front though.

While Banner was out cold, he’d strived to make the Hulk cage that he had constructed into a more welcoming environment. He was going to keep Banner and he was going to fix him. He was going to give him freedom, provided he didn’t seem to be feral in both forms. He couldn’t be sure. Banner didn’t talk and constantly looked like a scared animal or a sad dog waiting for the next kick to the stomach.

Then Banner spoke and it was snide and sardonic and cynical and bitter and honestly a little rude and feral animals surely didn’t feel those feelings. Banner hated him though. Rightfully so. After all, he had bought him. He tried everything to get Banner to open up to him. He proved that the man’s ex girlfriend who he had allegedly killed was still alive and well, but Banner took it the wrong way. He brought him food and drink, but Banner never touched it. He left the door open— Banner could have left any time, but he didn’t even move towards the door. It struck him on the day after he had slightly raised his voice to stop Banner from stepping into broken glass. He had sent the smaller man into a panic attack as he hid under his bed. Tried to comfort him and was kicked away. His eyes had been distinctly green and Tony had taken that as a sign to retreat. But it stuck him: Banner didn’t have him; Banner was scared of him. Terrified, even.

He apologized. Banner didn’t trust him. Banner expected to be betrayed or hit at every turn, expected Tony to go back on his promises. He was cold and distant no matter how hard Tony tried and he knew he shouldn’t have, but he snapped. Banner had lied to him about some equations and he’d been working for a long time and he was just so cranky. He’d sent Banner to stand in the corner like a child and then forgotten about him like an idiot. Then they’d fought and he’d gotten aggressive and had shoved Banner, who had promptly Hulked out. Tony had never told the other man about what had happened, but the only reason why he was alive and not jelly on the floor was because he’d had the sense to come equipped with an alarm. The beeping had been similar to the warning on the shock collar Ross had used and the Hulk had swiftly turned and loped off in the other direction.

He’d taken care of Bruce when he’d woken up. Showered him. Fed him. Ignored the fact it seemed like Banner was beginning to show symptoms of Stockholm syndrome and hadn’t escaped when he had the chance…

Then Ross had called for a surprise check in and ruined everything. Banner had traded his own safety for Betty’s and Tony had been reminded he was a human piece of garbage. So he’d told Ross to fuck off and burned Banner’s papers and promised him freedom just to have an angry Stane confront him and then the day after that he was in that treacherous desert.

“Look, I know I fucked up,” Tony finished with a sigh that caught in his throat. His eyes burned, but he willed himself not to cry. Why would he cry? Everyone would think they were crocodile tears anyway. He didn’t cry. He was Tony Stark. “I fucked up really bad. I shouldn’t have treated Bruce like that. I shouldn’t have never agreed to buy him in the first place. But now he’s hurt and I don’t know what to do. I know this is all my fault, okay? I need help.”

He was met with silence. Long, crushing silence. His eyes darted from Rhodey’s unreadable expression to Pepper’s cold and angry one. He took a small step back, heart pounding in his chest. This had been a bad idea. What was he thinking? How selfish was he to drag his friends into this as accomplices to his wicked deeds? They knew what he had done. He was more than just a bloody ledger, he was cruel and the worst of humanity. He had stripped a human of their dignity, degrading him to nothing more than the equivalent of a pet. He had used Bruce for his own satisfaction, poked and prodded the man until he snapped under pressure and gave Tony the results he desired. He was no better than Ross or Stane. They hated him now. They had to. He hated himself.

“Tony!” a shout snapped him out of his reverie and he took a deep breath, shoving trembling hands into his pockets. What was wrong with him? He was a wreck.

“Yes?”

“Who has him now?” Pepper asked slowly.

“SHIELD. They don’t know about his green problem.”

“I’ll begin finding a legal way to get him out. I doubt he’s in the right mind to sign consent forms. I’ll see what I can do. Then you and I are going to have a long talk about how to report people to the proper authorities for horrible things they’ve done.”

Tony didn’t say anything to that, instead nodding sharply.

“Don’t worry about it Tony,” Rhodey said with a smile that was obviously fake. It felt like it was supposed to inspire encouragement, but Tony just felt sick. “We’ll get things cleaned up. Go get some rest.”

He opened his mouth to protest, then shrugged and trudged out of the room. The moment he was gone, he could hear their low, frantic, angry, voices.

“He didn’t even argue with me,” Rhodey said. “He feels absolutely horrible.”

“I should hope so!” Pepper retorted with a hiss, “I didn’t think Tony would be the type of person to do something like this.”

“Me neither.”

A pause.

“Do you think he was telling the truth about everything?”

“Tony is…many things, but he’s not a masochist,” Rhodey said, half-sounding like he was convincing himself as well as Pepper. “He wouldn’t go out of his way to kick someone who’s already down unless he hated them. And he didn’t hate Banner. Don’t you see how shaken up he is about this whole thing?”

“I don’t know what to think at this point.”

Tony didn’t want to hear anymore.

* * *

He was lying awake at 4 am when a brilliant idea came to his mind. He sat up with a start, jumping out of bed and made his way down to the garage. SHIELD would have no issues releasing Bruce if they never found out about the Hulk.

It was easy enough to hack into some servers and steal some files. If it had been any other time, he probably would have left a signature, but he couldn’t risk getting into any sort of trouble that would lead back to him. He was sure that Ross would eventually lead it back to him, but it was best not to hasten that progress. Two hours later and he was transferring all the files over and taking down any number of evidence of the Hulk, including multiple blurred clips at Culver University.

By the time the sun began to stream through the windows, Tony was surrounded by coffee cups, filled with self-hatred, and done. Banner’s identity was safe.

His phone buzzed. He had a meeting in two hours. Then he had plans. Plans to visit Bruce and try to convince him to cooperate to the best of his ability with SHIELD. The faster Bruce did so, the faster he could get out.

The meeting was terrible and boring. He was fighting his way back into the company. The shareholders had backed off and he was considering firing every single one of them who had agreed with Obadiah. He didn’t care how bad of a business decision it was. He wanted any reminder of that piece of shit gone. He couldn’t handle any more betrayal. The only thing that stopped him at the moment was Pepper. She was doing him a tremendous favor at the moment and he was fairly sure that if he screwed over the company she was going to quit on him and he would probably never see her again.

After all, her tremendous favor was why he was even standing in a SHIELD base, combing through Banner’s medical files and filling out any missing information— basically everything.

Agent Coulson was hovering over his shoulder in a very annoying fashion, though he said nothing. Normally Tony would have made a jab by now, but he was more focused on trying to decipher the scribbled notes from the doctor.

_John Doe has been heavily sedated for a majority of his stay. Despite seeming to be malnourished, he exhibits extraordinary strength when not sedated and rips his medical restraints. This ‘super strength’ is typically preceded by the patient’s eyes turning a vivid green.  
Getting blood tests has proved to be most difficult—_

“How do you know him?”

“Huh?” Tony asked, though he had definitely heard the question. He hadn’t come up with a cover story yet, a completely rookie mistake. He had met Banner at least once before all this shit had happened. Some conference where Bruce had given some talk about radiation and gamma. He’d been doing fine but had frozen up when some of the senior scientists had asked him about his work and research. Then Tony had stopped listening.

“A conference in Texas, in about...2006. I believe he stammered through the last five minutes of his presentation and then was the laughing-stock of the community until he published his next paper.”

Coulson made a noncommittal noise, then placed his hand hand to his ear and Tony happily shut up, glad for the distraction because what he was saying was utter bullshit. The balding man frowned slightly and said, “Do what you have to.” Then, to Tony, he muttered, “Banner is having one of his episodes. Do you know-“

The brunet was already on his feet, speeding down the hall. The sight that met him upon reaching Banner’s room— he knew it was him from the sudden abundance of nurses on the move— was enough to make his blood boil.

Bruce was tucked in the corner, snarling as he tried to glare down the nurses. He had a scalpel in his fist, and despite his ever-shifting gaze, his eyes were glazed. It could only get worse from here. The nurses would call in security to deal with the curly-haired man and the green guy would surely make an appearance.

"Mr. Stark, you need to leave the room," one of the nurses barked at him, but Tony ignored her. Instead, he pushed past her and towards Bruce, whose eyes turned to him. The engineer slowly crouched, making himself less of a threat. Bruce's eyes were still bright with suspicion as they tracked him, a low rumble growing in his throat.

“Mr. Stark!”

“Shut up,” he quietly snapped at the nurse. “You’re going to get me stabbed. I’m trying to help. Just be ready to sedate him.”

If the nurse said anything else, Tony didn’t hear her because he turned all his attention to the man in front of him. Bruce may have been displaying aggression, but it was clearly a thinly disguised fear. He was close enough to see the tremors that racked the other’s body. Tony didn’t know who he was seeing or what, but it was bad.

As soon as he was a foot away, brown eyes focused on him and Bruce lashed out with the scalpel. Tony caught his wrist right before the blade sliced his cheek. The contact alone had Banner jumping in shock and dropping the tool and Tony took the chance to gently toss it behind him, far out of reach.

Bruce tore away, ducked further into the corner, Adam’s Apple bobbing in his throat as he seemingly attempted to make himself a smaller target.

“No, no, Banner…” Tony muttered, reaching out towards him.

“Don’t touch me,” Bruce whimpered lowly, flinching away from the engineer. “Please, I’m- I’m sorry.” Dark eyes, slowly beginning to bleed green, were firmly fixed on the ground, though his trembling had only become worse and he seemed to be on the verge of hyperventilating.

“Banner, buddy. It’s me, Tony. I’m not going to hurt you,” Tony said softly, despite the fact that fury blazed through his soul like a fire. If Stane hadn’t been dead already, he would have killed him again. Banner’s condition was inexcusable. What had they done to him? He gently pulled Bruce’s hand away from him, bringing it towards him and placing it on his arc reactor. The curly-haired man blinked, expression turning perplexed for a second before his gaze began to clear. “Bruce, breathe. You’re safe. They aren’t going to hurt you again. I’m here now. Trust me. I won’t let Ross, Stane, or anyone in between get to you.”

He expected Bruce to yank his hand away as he had in the past, but instead, Bruce just stared at him through red-rimmed eyes. Then, to his surprise, Bruce leaned into him, allowing Tony to pull him into a hug-cradle thing. The smaller man was definitely crying, his shoulders shaking. Silently. It was almost amazing how no sound escaped him. Tony wondered how long Bruce had been working to perfect the silent cry so that those that hurt him wouldn’t have the satisfaction of knowing they did.

“It’s okay. It’s okay,” he said both for himself and Banner. A nurse tapped him on the shoulder, and Tony turned to glance at her at the best of his ability. She was holding a needle. Tony expressed wait to the best of his ability without moving his hands. “Hey, big guy. They’re going to sedate you now. You okay with this?”

“I didn’t m-mean to make a mess. I’ll be good. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

“Oh, Bruce. It’s not a punishment. It’s for your safety and the safety of the nurses.” Tony felt like he was lying through his teeth, a bitter taste arousing in his mouth.

If Bruce knew, he didn’t say anything. Instead, the other man was silent for a minute, then whispered, “Please don't let them use my blood.”

“I won’t,” Tony replied firmly. Brown eyes met his own, searching, then Bruce dipped his head.

The nurse sedated the shorter man no further issue, and as they helped him back to the bed, Tony took the time to survey the crowd that had gathered. Security guards, nurses, and Phil Coulson.

“How much did that suit cost?” Coulson asked as Tony walked past, eyes drifting to the damp spot on the billionaire’s jacket. The agent was fixed with a scathing look.

“Tell your nurses not to restrain him,” he snapped.

Coulson looked unperturbed. “I can try, but if he makes his way out of sedation again, fighting and screaming, then it’s important our nurses do what they need to protect themselves.”

Before Tony could answer Coulson powered on, "I don't think we'll have a problem with Dr. Banner as long as you're here." There was something in the balding man's expression as he said this. Curiosity, perhaps? He wanted to know their relationship, wanted to know why they were so "close." He wanted to know why Bruce trusted him but flinched away from everyone else.

It occurred to him that maybe they didn't have Ross in custody. And if they did, maybe he hadn't tried to ruin his reputation yet. It was his fault that Bruce was in this situation, though. All his fault. If he was taking responsibility for the weapons he left in the Middle East, he needed to take responsibility for the "weapon" he left here.

"I'll see you later, then," he found himself saying.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> Comments and kudos are not necessary, but they do really make my day, so they would be much appreciated. I might not respond to your comment because I am anxious but just know I cherish every single kind word you leave me :)


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